The present invention relates to a side vehicle-body structure of a vehicle.
A side vehicle-body structure of a vehicle in which a rear pillar extending in a vertical direction at a rear edge portion of a door opening portion and a rear wheelhouse are interconnected by a reinforcing member is known. Japanese Patent Laid-Open publication No. 2006-103435 discloses a side vehicle-body structure of a vehicle which comprises a rear-side pillar extending in the vertical direction between a rear wheelhouse and a roof, a rear pillar extending in the vertical direction at a rear edge portion of a door, and a reinforcing member extending in a longitudinal direction between the rear-side pillar and the rear pillar.
The reinforcing member disclosed in the above-described patent document is configured to have a downward-opening cross section for the purpose of being easily deformable when receiving a collision load in a vehicle rear collision. The reinforcing member is deformed longitudinally compressively in the rear collision so as to absorb the collision load, so that the collision load transmitted to the rear pillar is decreased.
According to the structure of the above-described patent document, since the reinforcing member is deformed in the longitudinal direction by receiving the collision load in the rear collision, a riding (boarding) space positioned in back of the rear pillar is easily decreased in the longitudinal direction.
Meanwhile, it may be considered that decreasing of the riding space in the rear collision is suppressed by configuring the reinforcing member such that its deformation is suppressed by improving its rigidity. In this case, however, the collision load transmitted to the rear pillar is so increased that that the rear pillar may have the excessive deformation.